This is the biggest no-brainer. It’s something we’ve all been clamoring for, maybe for decades.
The day after the Super Bowl needs to be declared a national holiday. Full stop.
Do I need to write more than that? No, but I know you’re staring at your screen, nodding like Jack Nicholson in The Departed. Can we get our government to pass some kind of law? Our state legislatures? Whoever it is needs to say the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday is a day off for everyone.
Sure, the better solution is Super Bowl Saturday instead, but that’s probably not happening. So here are some reasons why this is the next best idea:
1
Nothing gets done on that Monday anyway
You know this anecdotally, but there are stats to back it up:
According to a 2021 survey conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos, 16.1 million Americans reported they were likely not going to work on the Monday after the Super Bowl. This figure, multiplied times the average daily hours worked in January (6.9), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the average hourly wage of $31.63 in January 2022, results in $3.5 billion in lost productivity. Add 2 hours of distracted working for the other 47 million estimated employed NFL fans, the cost balloons to $6.5 billion.
2
So many people watch the game!
It’s estimated at over 100 million people, so who knows how many more will watch? So it’s not like we’re trying to get a small group of people to be louder. We’re talking about a ton of people who will be tired and unproductive the next day!
3
Places including schools are already doing it
There’s momentum!
4
We need more days off
[Gets on soap box] Listen: We here in the United States work way too much, especially post-2020. We have devices that allow us to get work emails after hours, we work harder from home … you get the picture. What’s another day off when we’re already working much less that day, from managers on down?
I’m Charles Curtis, and I approved this ad.
